


A trio of eedjets

by Khalehla



Series: Not the usual OTPs [13]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: 2017 Confederations Cup, German National Team, International Break, M/M, Minor Angst, Pre-Relationship, Steno is very minor - you'll miss it if you blink, Threesome - M/M/M, one-sided Ju&Jo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-04-28 23:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14460267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khalehla/pseuds/Khalehla
Summary: They play together like a well-oiled machine; everyone says so. Bernd Leno, however, isconcerned.





	A trio of eedjets

**Author's Note:**

> [ugh, trying to distinguish between the three Julians is so hard!]  
> My golden trio: the future of Germany football. I just love the idea of these three playing together constantly. And if I could get away with it, I'd want Brandt at Bayern, too, but that's because I'm greedy (and have been told this in the past).
> 
> I also kinda liked writing Bernd as a concerned mother hen, especially because he's close to both Julian Brandt and Joshua.  
> -  
> Set some time from the Confed Cup 'til now.

**\- Leon, a.k.a the oblivious idiot -**

They play together like a well-oiled machine. That's what Marcus Sorg had said at the end of the tournament and it's probably the fact that he's so high on the endorphins of winning that Leon doesn't even care how horribly cliché the statement had been. How could he complain when it was true? He'd never thought he'd click so well and so fast with any of his teammates, but somehow he'd started the camp for the Confed Cup being somewhat shy about not being close to anyone, and finished the tournament with two new, extremely close friends. Leon really did like how easy it was to integrate into the senior team, which, despite having played with most of the players at one stage in the past, already, was a completely different beast with a completely different dynamic. Leon was very appreciative of Oliver Bierhoff and management for hammering teamgeist and integration and the "no ego" culture into everyone. Leon also developed early on an appreciation for his teammates for making sure the "newbies" like him didn't feel too left out by making an effort to be inclusive. 

Oh, and an appreciation for the fact that quiet, unassuming Bernd Leno had perfected the "concerned mother hen who will hunt you down if you dare hurt any of my babies" look.

It had taken a while for Leon to figure out that _that_ particular facial expression wasn't just the Leverkusen keeper's resting bitch face; to be fair, prior to being called up to the seniors more regularly, most of Leon's interactions with Bernd were in the two games when their clubs faced each other, so how was he supposed to know that Bernd actually had his "I am not amused" face on when he looked at Leon like that? It is, surprisingly, Leroy who points it out first.

"Did you, like, mess with Leno's gloves or something?" Leroy whispers to him at breakfast one morning. "Why is he glaring at you like that?"

"Who now?" Leon asks, confused.

"Bernd Leno." Leroy points in the direction of where the Leverkusen players are sitting together for breakfast with his chin, and sure enough, Bernd is staring at him. Leon startles, looks over his shoulder just to make sure Bernd isn't looking at someone else, but nope, there's no-one there. When Leon brings his eyes back to Bernd, the keeper is now laughing at something Benny has said. Leon thinks maybe it was just a weird ass moment and shrugs it off.

A couple of days later, though, he, Joshua and Jule (Brandt, not Draxler) are discussing whether to go mini-golf or swimming at their next break, and he catches Bernd giving him another look. Leon turns to Jule to ask if he knew why Bernd didn't like him.

"Why wouldn't Bernd like you?" Jule asks, frowning. "You guys hardly talk."

"That's what I want to know," Leon murmurs. "But he keeps giving me death stares."

"No, that's just his normal face," Joshua disagrees. "Bernd's a bit shy but he's really nice when you get to know him."

Leon hums, not quite wanting to point out that Joshua was a bit biased since he and Bernd were close.

"No really, Jo's right," Jule adds, "he's not really the type to hate someone for no reason."

Leon resists pointing out that Jule's just as biased as Joshua.

The funny thing is, Joshua and Jule are kinda right. Whenever Leon's on the same team as Bernd for training, the goalkeeper seems to completely fine with him, even patting Leon on the shoulder on a particularly good interception one afternoon. And during team dinners when they're all sitting together, Bernd is just as friendly to him as everyone else. Leon doesn't get it.

"Well, you are spending all your spare time with two of his close friends on the team," Leroy shrugs. "Maybe he's jealous that you're taking up their time?"

Leon blinks. He hadn't really thought of that, but it did kinda make sense in a weird sort of way. So, the Leverkusen keeper kept glaring at him because he was protective over his two close friends and not necessarily because he hated Leon's guts for some reason? He could live with that. All he had to do was convince Bernd that he had no intention of stealing Joshua and Jule away from him. Speaking of which...

"Have you seen Jo?"

"Why are you asking me?" Leroy asks, confused. "Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Eh, because you guys are always together so I'd thought you'd know?"

Leroy blinks at him. "Oh god, I totally get Bernd now," the forward says. "And I thought I had it tough. If he's had to deal with this with two of them, I'm not surprised he looks like he wants to murder y'all sometimes."

"What are you talking about?" Leon asks, confused.

"Never mind," Leroy says, waving his hand vaguely. "No I don't know where Jo is, but if you look for Jule - Brandt, not el capitán - you should find him."

Leon's pretty sure he can also hear Leroy mutter something along the lines of "surprised you didn't think of that first" under his breath, but Leon's not 100% sure. He shrugs, and makes his way to the pool room where Jule mentioned he would be earlier that day.

 **\- Julian, a.k.a. the jealous idiot -**  

He worries sometimes that he's nothing but a substitute for another Julian, and Julian realises that it annoys him. The idea that he's living in the shadow of a particular midfielder playing for Dortmund had never even crossed his mind until Timo had rather carelessly mentioned it.

"He has a thing for Julians, I guess," Timo had said, smiling as he watched Joshua congratulate Jule Draxler for the goal by clinging to him like a koala. The fact that Joshua is quite a bit shorter than Jule makes the clinging kinda cute, and at first, Julian can't help but smile too. The smile falls off his face though when Timo turns to him and adds, "Which is probably why he likes _you_ so much, considering he apparently also had a thing with Weigl before if you listen to gossip."

The problem is, Julian starts to notice this now, even though it'd never been an issue before. He's pretty sure that his dentist is going to get cranky with the damage he's doing to his teeth from all the gritting and clenching he's been doing lately. What makes is worse is that Julian is pretty sure he's got nothing to be jealous about. Firstly, he didn't own Joshua, so he had no reason to be so possessive about being the _only_ Julian in his life. Secondly, as far as he and everyone are aware, there's nothing between Joshua and Draxler. In fact, if anything, it's the (current? former?) thing Joshua had with Julian _Weigl_ that should be worrying Jule more. And it does, now. Because even though Joshua is tactile as anything when it's just them and Leon, he kinda wonders if Joshua is like that with all Julians, like Timo pointed out. Which actually upsets Julian a bit, because he wanted to be special, not just another name on a list.

Julian wants to bang his head against the wall. Ugh, why was he acting like a love-sick teenager? He hates being like this. And because he's supposed to be a grown-as adult, he's going to treat this maturely. By crying to Leon. Because that was mature, right? Dealing with his feelings?

He stomps to the outdoor area where some of his teammates are setting up teams for a game of volleyball, and spots Bernd.

"Hey," Jule says, knocking Bernd with his shoulder, "you playing?"

"Yeah, just waiting to see whose team I'm on."

Jule nods, wondering if they still needed more players because he really could use the fun right now. But before he can ask, Bernd side-eyes him and says, "Where're Jo and Leon? How come you're not with them?"

"I'm actually looking for them," Jule admits. "Well, not Jo, just Leon."

Bernd raises his eyebrows. "Why not Jo? Did you two have a fight or something?"

Jule can't help the scowl, although he tries to hide it from his friends. "Nah, haven't talked to him much."

"What are you talking about? You were with him and Leon last night."

"Well, he's been busy lately."

"Oh? Busy doing what, exactly?"

"I dunno," Jule huffs. "He's hanging with _Draxler_ today, who knows what they're up to?"

For some reason, Bernd stares at him, then facepalms. "Oh my _god_ ," the keeper mumbles into his hands. "Why me? Why me?"

"What are you going on about?" Jule asks grumpily.

Bernd sighs heavenwards. "Never mind. Look, I think Jo and Leon are playing darts - and yes, I'm pretty sure Draxler's with them - so if you're looking for Leon, that's where you'll find them."

Jule glares at nothing for a few seconds, wondering if he could still be friendly despite not wanting to be around Joshua or the other Julian right now. "Do you think I can join a team?" Jule asks, pointing in the general direction of Sami and Mats who seem to have finished putting everyone on a team.

Bernd very exaggeratedly sighs, but nods. "Yeah, we've actually got odd numbers so they'll be happy."

Jule nods, then makes his way to Sami while also ignoring Bernd who sighs loudly again.

**\- Joshua, a.k.a the pining idiot -**

Bernd is frowning  _again_  and Joshua rolls his eyes so hard that he's half-afraid he's hurt himself. Joshua adored his friend, he really did, but Bernd was such a worry-wart sometimes and although he appreciated the concern, Joshua also wished that Bernd wouldn't take the "younger brother" part of their friendship so seriously sometimes.

It's not like he doesn't know Bernd is frowning. The reason is quite clearly the tall blond midfielder sitting next him and laughing into his shoulder. Or maybe this time it's the tall brunet responsible for making the blond laugh so hard who is also leaning hard into his other side. Or maybe it's neither, or both; either way, Joshua thinks Bernd worries too much. He tells his friend this later on when they have a spare hour before dinner.

"Stop scowling Bernd," Joshua says, softly but sternly. "Unless you want Marc to murder me in my sleep because he thinks I'm upsetting you."

Bernd just scowls some more, ignoring the teasing. "I'm just concerned, Jo," the goal keeper says so sincerely that Joshua can't help but feel slightly guilty; Bernd was only being a good friend, after all.

"There's nothing to be worried about," Joshua sighs. There's no point in being coy about this now, they both knew exactly what they were both decidedly not talking about. 

Bernd continues to look sceptical.

"Promise," Joshua insists. "No-one is going to get their hurt or have their heart broken. I wouldn't do anything to hurt Jule, you should know that."

"And Leon?"

 _Leon, either_ , Joshua silently adds, but he's not 100 percent sure how much Bernd knows, so he says, "What about him?"

Bernd scowl comes back. "You seriously don't think I haven't noticed the amount of time you three have been spending together? I used to have to remind Jule to talk to other people not in our club; now I barely say hello to him he's with you guys so much."

Oh, maybe he overestimated just how distracted Bernd was with his own dramas. "Well then you should be happy he's making friends; that we're friends. Aren't you happy that we get along?"

Bernd opens his mouth, shuts it, nods, then scowls again. "I'm not telling you what to do with your life or how to run your relationships; I just don't want anyone to get hurt." Bernd side-eyes him then. "Besides, what about Ju?"

The question takes him so much by surprise that Joshua actually gasps at the mention of Julian Weigl. "What. What about him?" he stutters.

Bernd's voice is gentle as he says, "Jo, I was with you in France, remember? You were completely smitten with him; have you forgotten about him already?"

"It's not. It's not like that," Joshua stutters again. "There was nothing with me and Ju."  _Even if I wanted there to be_ , he thinks sadly, then immediately tries to squash that thought down. 

"Maybe not officially, but we could all tell you guys were getting there. Or were we wrong this whole time?"

Joshua breathes slowly, trying to not get caught up in the guilt that Bernd's words were making him feel. He shouldn't even feel guilty, because he hadn't been lying when he'd said there was nothing between him and Ju Weigl. The other midfielder hadn't said anything about Joshua's rather obvious affections, and they'd carried on like close friends who happened to be quite tactile and spent a lot of time together, but that was it. Joshua had been content to just be spending so much time with Ju at the tournament, but he'd eventually started to lose hope that maybe Ju had felt the same way, because after the Euros, after Ju had gone on the unlucky spell of injuries, their friendship had slowed significantly. Oh Joshua understood how hard it was for Ju with his injury and club woes, but he also couldn't help thinking that if Ju had really felt more than good friends for Joshua, he'd had made more of an effort to not only stay in regular contact, but to push their friendship forward, too. But Ju hadn't, and Joshua had learnt to let go.

"Ju never felt the same," Joshua admits softly. "It was all me."

"I'm sorry," Bernd says, just as softly. "I didn't know."

"It's okay; it wasn't really something I wanted to talk about much."

"So I don't have to worry about Jule just being a replacement for another Julian?"

Joshua actually coughs out a laugh. "What do you take me for?"

"Just making sure, Jo."

 _Bernd is just being a good friend_ , Joshua has to remind himself, biting his tongue. "Don't worry, I'm sure."

 

**Author's Note:**

> \--  
> I have a [tumblr account ](https://khalehla.tumblr.com) for my writings and random ficlets. If you have a question about this or any of my other stories, come say hi :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I write **fiction** about real people. As far as I know, none of these events ever happened; any resemblance to any actual events are purely coincidental.


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